Jodi Benson Will Be the Witch in Florida Into the Woods

Jodi Benson Will Be the Witch in Florida Into the Woods

The Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical will be directed by Kristen Sheola.

February 27, 2026 By Andrew Gans

Tony nominee Jodi Benson, who famously voiced the role of Ariel in the animated Disney film The Little Mermaid, will star in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts' summer production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods.

Benson, a Tony nominee for her performance in the Gershwin musical Crazy for You, will play the Witch in the upcoming musical, which will play Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida, July 31-August 2. Kristen Sheola will direct with associate direction by Michael Rodgers. Additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.

Benson will return to the Dr. Phillips Center stage after a sold-out run as the meddling matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! in 2024.

“I am so honored to be returning to Orlando and the stunning Steinmetz Hall at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. What a thrill to play such an incredible role as the Witch in Into the Woods,” says Benson in a statement.

Benson currently voices Nia Wingfeather in The Wingfeather Saga and can be seen as Iris Maddox in the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias. She will begin a limited engagement in the Off-Broadway play Pen Pals March 4.

Into the Woods—with a score by Sondheim and a book by Lapine—opened on Broadway in 1987 for a nearly two-year run starring Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, and more. The musical was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won three, including Best Original Score. The recent Broadway revival was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.

Tickets for Into the Woods will go on sale March 6 at DrPhillipsCenter.org.